On Tue, Mar 02, 2010 at 08:25:06PM -0800, Benjamin Krueger spake thusly:
> This is only one professional's opinion, but I would never buy the
> argument that anti-virus and rootkit checks are only for Windows and
> that Unix is somehow immune such that it doesn't require them. My
> QSA certainly wouldn't buy that either. You can make the "commonly

Dragging this up again from back in March. I found the following
shortly after our conversation. Since I just referred someone else to
it I'll relight this fire and send it to you all as well:

Refer to "Navigating PCI DSS" from the PCI Security Standards Council
which provides guidance on the interpretation of the requirements:

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pdfs/pci_dss_saq_navigating_dss.pdf

Requirement:

5.1 Deploy anti-virus software on all systems commonly
    affected by malicious software (particularly personal
    computers and servers).

Guidance:

    While systems that are commonly affected by malicious software
    typically do not include mainframes and most Unix systems (see
    more detail below), each entity must have a process according to
    PCI DSS Requirement 6.2 to identify and address new security
    vulnerabilities and update their configuration standards and
    processes accordingly. Trends in malicious software related to
    operating systems an entity uses should be included in the
    identification of new security vulnerabilities, and methods to
    address new trends should be incorporated into the company's
    configuration standards and protection mechanisms as needed.

    Typically, the following operating systems are not commonly
    affected by malicious software: mainframes, and certain Unix
    servers (such as AIX, Solaris, and HP-Unix). However, industry
    trends for malicious software can change quickly and each
    organization must comply with Requirement 6.2 to identify and
    address new security vulnerabilities and update their
    configuration standards and processes accordingly.

They do not mention Windows specifically because of the political
implications of calling them out as abnormally prone to viruses and
they do not mention Linux specifically because there are so many
different ones. But AIX, Solaris, and "HP-Unix" are specifically
named. This makes it pretty clear that you don't have to have
antivirus on your in-scope Solaris systems.

This is a small requirement of the standard but major operational pain
in the butt. Daily updates (at least) is the standard for antivirus
definitions these days. Can you imagine somehow ferrying virus
definition files into your private network which has no direct
Internet access because PCI says your AIX machine needs antivirus? Who
is going to sell you antivirus for AIX anyway?

-- 
Tracy Reed
http://tracyreed.org

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